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Introduction: The King is Dead
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1 Introduction The King is Dead W hen, in 1952, King George VI of England died quietly in his sleep, the papers came out in the morning with identical headlines, ‘‘The King is Dead’’; and when the rock star, Elvis Presley died in 1977 of a drug over-dose, papers all over the world, almost unanimously declared, ‘‘The King is Dead.’’ Yes, there was no other fitting title to describe the death of Tataw Obenson on Sunday April 29th, 1979. ‘‘A King Died’’ in Victoria. His death has created a big vacuum amongst our Cameroonian journalists. I read in him behaviour peculiar to both Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X, all of whom were freedom fighters in America; the only difference being that he hadn’t the big degrees of Martin Luther King, Jr., or the war-like nature of Malcolm X. However, the trio preached justice. Again, in him, I saw a mind that is as rich as Jimmy Callaghan’s and Winston Churchill’s, all former Prime Ministers of England. What is more, like Jimmy Callaghan, he was a self-made intellectual who never acquired the work permits, (degrees), bestowed by academic institutions which have housed many of us for so long. Like Socrates and Plato, Tataw Obenson was a great teacher. Those who read his articles and never had their consciences sensitised, have been very hardened people indeed. We shall hardly have Tataw Obenson’s double again amongst our journalists. If there is one reason for writing this book, it is because I would like to see Tataw Obenson alive, and I doubt if there is any other way out than to produce his works in a more permanent form. To achieve this purpose, I have reminded myself of other publications such as Saint Paul’s letter in the New Testament, Socrates’ trial and several others which have been produced verbatim without any violence being done on any word, so as to maintain their authenticity. Although Tataw Obenson wrote mainly in satires, their interpretations were as easy as being able to know that George Orwell was referring to Trotsky when he gave him anew name of Snowball in his well-known book, Animal Farm. To achieve his 2 Ako-Aya: A Cameroonian Pioneer in Daring Journalism and Social Commentary aim, he assumed a new name, AKO-AYA, by which he was known until his death. In fact, many people never even knew his true name. With his pen he fought for the common man, and in his attempt to stamp out fraud, bribery, and many other evils in our society, he caused many people in high offices to be on the alert. Whatever anybody did, he made sure AKO-AYA was not around. Small wonder that in the article below, he said as early as in 1971 that he was not unaware of the fact that many people would like to see him dead. He wrote on 10th February, 1971. ‘‘WELL ‘‘I came back Sunday looking very healthy and looking very fit. I thank those who contributed morally and financially to make me well. Especially, I thank A.L.A. of Buea, Monica and Lydia of Mamfe and George of Kumba. They had really sustained me where others failed. I thank still those who wanted me to die, notably FGD and CA of Victoria and several others in Buea, their names too scared to mention. ‘‘So I went to OKU right there in the creature lake and this medicine man took me in a small canoe and asked me to confess my sins before he could give me the drug that will make me well. Well, what sins did I not confess - everything under the sun from murder to adultery, from nepotism to tribalism especially; on tribalism the medicine man was very severe, but I begged and promised that henceforth I would be an African first and that to me all Africans are the same no matter whether they are white, black or green, and especially that all Cameroonians from Garoua to Nkambe are the same and tribe now means nothing whether Manyu, Mooio, Mantung and Donga and Meme. He then pushed me into the lake and I swam to the shore feeling well except for my fingers. ‘‘In the sea-port city, J was taking my usual afternoon stroll when a house-wife was spitting out pepper against her husband. [3.235.130.73] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 22:11 GMT) 3 Introduction: The...